No morale issue at Ducati, says Nicky Hayden

Nicky Hayden says morale inside Ducati’s factory MotoGP camp hasn’t suffered, despite a bitterly disappointing 2011 world championship campaign.

American Hayden and team-mate Valentino Rossi have scored just two podiums between them as this year’s Desmosedici has struggled to match the performance of Honda’s RC212V and Yamaha’s YZR-M1.

Although he’s finished all 11 races so far this season, Hayden has only finished inside the top on three occasions, including a podium in a rain-lashed Jerez race.

But the 2006 world champion said morale was still high at Ducati with the Bologna factory determined to improve the GP11.1 machine in the final seven races.

Speaking during a teleconference ahead of his home race at the world famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend, Hayden said: “I would say the atmosphere around there is, I’ve been impressed. Nobody has lost hope. Nobody is complaining, pointing fingers. Really, everybody’s just working to try and make it better, especially on my side of the team.

“They’ve worked like dogs to build new bikes, come in and give us more options. Everybody at Ducati, they don’t like losing, either. It’s how it goes sometimes. I’ve learned a lot. You learn more about people when they are struggling than when they’re on top. It’s easy to smile and say all the right things when you’re doing good and everything is rosy, but that’s not exactly been the case for us this year. I told Fillipo (Preziosi) that after the last test.

“I’ve been impressed with his team and how all the guys have just kept their head down and kept working. Those guys, they get there early and stay late. Some of the engineers I spoke to back at the factory, they’re all on board. I’ve got to believe that hard work and that good attitude is going to pay off in the long run. It normally always does, and I hope this is no different.”